SYSTEMATIC EXCAVATION AT TRAPEZA OF AIGIO, ANCIENT RYPES

With the support of the A. G. Leventis Foundation, the excavation at Trapeza, in Aigion, continues to reveal important archeological findings at the site. Excavation in the western ptero of the Late Archaic Temple (where successive layers of hearth for preparation and consumption of ritual meals had previously been uncovered) was concluded, and verified the successive construction of the monument. In the deeper layers, charcoal and ashes, fragmented animal bones and shells of Achaean vessels attested to ritual meals of the 8th century B.C., while in the city’s Agora, on the axis of the building E the Stratigraphic Trench E19 confirmed its function as the first cult monument of the site. In the investigation of building H, rooms A, B and C revealed remains of the last period of the monuments’ use in the 3rd century B.C. while, at the Mycenaean Necropolis, Chamber Tomb 7, the rich utensils unearthed certified its affluence from the Palatian Period to the end of the Mycenaean world.